AT&T video portal

AT&T has publicly launched the beta version of a video portal — which serves up free TV shows and movies to any Internet user, and promises even more to U-verse TV customers — with content from more than a dozen programming partners.

The site, http://entertainment.att.net/tv, promises U-verse TV customers “bonus content” if they log in but doesn’t spell out what that extra content is. The free section of the site offers shows and movies from CBS; ABC and ABC Family; NBC and NBC Universal’s USA, Bravo, Syfy and CNBC; MTV Networks’ MTV and VH1; Lionsgate; MGM; Universal Studios; PBS; and Current TV. The site also lists Hulu, the joint venture of NBC, The Walt Disney Co. and News Corp., as a partner.

The company added, “This site is another step forward for our three-screen strategy to provide more content to more customers across any device.”

AT&T in May had said it was working on an “authentication” system that would provide a TV Everywhere-like service to subscribers, with content available on both its own site and programmers’ sites.